14th GCC eGovernment and eServices Forum Concludes International expert stress information security as primary concern for businesses and government e-initiatives

بيان صحفي للنشر

عودة إلى الأخبار

28/05/2008

The 14th GCC eGovernment and eServices Forum concluded today at al Bustan Rotana Hotel in Dubai, UAE.  A five-day event organized by Datamatix Group, the forum was sponsored by Dubai eGovernment and Xerox, the world’s leading document management technology and services enterprise; co-sponsored by Genius Soft, Crimson Logic, Solutions Middle East, Captaris, Gemalto, and Oracle; and well attended by regional government and business organizations, IT professional and solution providers, and members of the media.

The final session opened with Prof. Basie von Solms, President International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) – University of Johannesburg South Africa discussing “Building A Trust Environment for GCC eGovernment Projects – Privacy, Security and Authentication” in a two part presentation.

The first part of the session centered on the management aspect of information security. Discussing the importance of information security, von Solms stressed that “a trust environment related to privacy, security and authentication can only be created based on an enterprise-wide information security governance program” and highlighted the fact that information security is part of the corporate governance responsibilities of the board and executive management of an organization.  He examined emerging trends and challenges in information security, and international best practices and the elements of a framework for information security governance. He also laid out an approach for implementing a proper information security governance environment.

In the second part of the session, he focused more on the technical aspects of online security.  He discussed the problem of identity theft and demonstrated how Encryption, SSL, and Information Security Awareness can be used to enforce better identification and authentication in order to create a more trusted, secure and private online environment. Taking a brief look at ISO 27002, he also briefly explored the guidelines provided for OS security, Network Security, and Application Security.

In conclusion von Solms stressed that Information Security Governance is a dynamic never-ending process, which involves being alert to new risks and ensuring new countermeasures to mediate new risks and which must have the support and commitment from the highest level and be based on international best practices.

Continuing the discussion on security, Dr. Mohamed Dafir El Kettani Professor – National School for Informatics & System Analysis (ENSIAS), University Mohammed, Morocco presented on eGovernment IT Security.

He began by emphasizing the risks posed by cyber crime. “The digital revolution has changed how business is transacted, how government operates. Globalization and technology advancement have made critical infrastructure vulnerable and thus potential terrorist targets. Countries face real risks, and vulnerabilities in the critical information systems could be exploited by adversaries. They seek to incapacitate critical infrastructure and key resources to threaten national security, causing considerable mass casualties, weaken world economy, and damage public morale and confidence.” He said, adding “Cyberspace is far from secure today. In the light of this changing environment, there is an urgent need to take action – at national as well as international levels – against all forms of cyber crime. Governmental Cyber Security Policies are not enough. It becomes necessary to create and endorse a “Generic Policy Model” of Cyber Security, associated to “National Coordinated Strategies” against Cyber Crime.”

He then went on to explain the global framework of Global CyberSecurity Agenda, an ITU framework for international cooperation aimed at proposing solutions to enhance confidence and security in the information society, and examined 2 different countries’ experiences with eGovernment IT Security. He compared different national and regional strategies for cyber-security – OIC, Morocco and Tunisia.

He concluded by proposing a framework for a “Watch, Warning and Incident Response” to ensure cross-border coordination between new and existing initiatives, at the national, regional and international levels, which will make it more difficult for attacks to succeed.

In the final presentation of the day, a Global Case Study on eGovernment and eServices, Mr. Carsten Gelzinus, Director of  Xerox Global Services (event main sponsor) pointed out that while the budgets and resources available to government agencies and departments are limited, they still face the need to streamline inter-agency business processes by employing technology to improve collaboration and communications; put government functions online; and leverage technology to deliver improved services, and that many initiatives are forcing agencies to use more efficient document management systems.

As an example of how technology can be implemented to improve government process, he illustrated how the South African Justice Department went from struggling with inefficient case management; blockages within the system; cumbersome and unreliable manual processes; outdated and inaccurate information – resulting in delays and acquittals; and inappropriate sentencing and bail decisions to become a much more efficiently run department with improved access to information.

At the conclusion of the event, Ali Al Kamali, Managing Director of Datamatix Group, thanked all of the sponsors, participants and media for their support and contributions towards the success of the forum.

For further information and/or media inquiries, please contact:

Mr Ferdie Umali
Datamatix Group
Tel: +971 4 332 6688
Fax: +971 4 332 8223
E-Mail: Ferdie@datamatixgroup.com
URL: www.datamatixgroup.com

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